The Event Series (Book 4): Filling in the Cracks

by Thomas Larson

  “What happened to honor, I thought you said you were an evil person, but that you were an honorable evil person.” I said.

  “I am, but a man has needs, and this game is getting boring, you are playing well, but it is not so fun, you’re too emotionless. Better to watch the fear in their eyes, to hear them whimper, and sob, and listen to them beg.”

  Emotionless? Oh, how wrong he is, I am plenty fearful, not only for me. I feared for but those on the other side of the door. I knew who he was, I just didn’t know if I could trust him at his word. But then I built him, I made him who he was, how did I make him, that is the question. And I realized, I never addressed that issue. Shit.

  “Getting late, time to get those last questions in there Tommy Boy,” The voice taunted.

  “Oh, I know, I know, and I am almost there, to the solution. I know that the character, your character, was one who was good to your word, and if you said you would kill them, he would. But I also know that if you say you will not kill, you won’t. You play by the rules, you’re evil, but a tidy organized by the book evil.” I said aloud.

  “Ah, so who am I?”

  “Question #9 first……do you know Delaney?”

  Silence

  “Do you know Delaney?”

  Silence

  “DO YOU KNOW…”

  “YES!, I know that bitch, and if it had not been for her I would have lived, I would have been able to work your camp, Margo, Chelsea, Taylor, Heather, and Michelle, I had a supply to last me a year, a year of pleasure or passion!”

  “John, why did you come visit me, to try to terrorize me?”

  He was calm now, and chuckled, “I guess I wanted to just fill that little bit of me that I felt was missing. You made me a pedophile teacher who killed a pain in the ass student without knowing the real me, the dark side, my blood lust. Over the years I killed 23 people, mostly young women, and a couple of Nancy boys. It was what I did; it was my passion, my pleasure, my addiction. Being a teacher, and kind of a student’s favorite, it worked well for me. Alyssa, well, she was going to be my next victim but then all the undead thing started and she got away. She and Delaney skipped out. I kind of thought that Delany had me figured out, but she never got the chance to turn me in. She was a smart girl, smart enough to stay out of my reaches.”

  With a deep sigh, almost regret the voice continued, “You never knew that, but needed to. You also needed to complete me, give me a redeeming quality, you did, I play by the rules. Thank you.”

  There was silence, the rain had stopped, and then the cock crowed as I stared at the ceiling. I breathed a sigh of relief.

  Chelsea

  I was thinking about the various characters that lived, and died in my story. I truly think that the saddest was Anne, or at least that was the one that affected me the most. But there were others, the Stanwix crew, Nick, for that matter, Frank and Ethan were ones that I only brushed on the actual death and not necessarily what brought them to the place they were. Most of them really did not have nor need that detailed back story, but Chelsea, that was a slow, sad decline that none really saw coming.

  So Chelsea, she was young, cute, blond, a kind of cheerleader type if you know what the stereo-type is. She was perky of spirit as well as breasts which made her popular with the biker gang who had kidnapped her, and used her. It had to be a hard life for that period of time before she was brought into the group. And when she was brought in and she became comfortable it became evident that she was also one of those kinds of people who was not complete, she believed she needed someone in her life to make her ‘whole’.

  Ethan was the guy; he was the one who filled that need for her. And although she was needy, and he was a little bit of an over-reactor seeing terrors at every turn and behind every tree, they worked. They made each other whole.

  When Ethan died, it was terrible, first in the way it happened, with the explosion, but also in what it did to Chelsea. It stripped her of a part of her life, she was suddenly cut lose and left to float in a sea of emotions, most of them negative. As much as she needed someone, the hurt and pain of Ethan’s loss put up a wall which we really didn’t see at first. I mean she had the same perkiness most of the time, with the twinges of sadness that would seem natural for someone who lost their love.

  In time, she seemed to be back to normal, hanging with the youngers, doing things with them. But she never connected back up with anyone, or so it seemed. She mostly hung out with Taylor, and they seemed to have a solid friendship. But there was more, there was a part was not seen or known about. Overtime Chelsea saw Taylor as more than a friend, she was the missing piece, the part that would make her happy and feel whole again.

  Over time Chelsea moved closer and closer to Taylor, there were touches, brushes, hints that she shared with Taylor, and Tay never really understood, it was just normal girl stuff in her mind. Taylor saw it as just that girls, women tend to be a little more touchy feely and less homophobic than guys.

  As the weeks moved on, the contact, closeness and opportunities become more and more intense. And at some point, Taylor began to get what was going on. At first it intrigued her, the thought of being with a woman.

  There were others who saw what was happening, but really, no one cared, it was not a big deal in the new world order. The clan, the campers weren’t caught up in the old traditions and taboos. It was a different world. The two of them would sit close at fire pit. They would sometime even hold hands.

  “Yeah, I knew where I wanted it to go, where I was trying to take it. And at first it was kind of good, falling in love is always good. We were both alone, and we helped each other get through things, we talked, and sometimes cuddled. But it was not ……. We were on different levels.” A soft female voice said in my head.

  “Yes, we were, and I didn’t mean to lead you on, I thought…” said another, less soft, yet apologetic.

  “No, I know, I pushed, and we had a thing, a magical thing, for a little while, but I needed more, I needed that intimacy, that contact,” and with a chuckle, “sex.”

  “I tried, but I couldn’t, it wasn’t you, it was ‘it’, I felt weird, I mean, that night, it felt good, it was wonderful, but I couldn’t shake the guilt, I couldn’t….I’m sorry, I tried.”

  “I understand, and as much as I hoped and tried to stop I couldn’t help myself.”

  Okay, let me just stop here for a minute, yes, I am a little bit of a pervert and I listened to them, Chelsea, and Taylor talking in my head. But I also visualized ‘that’ night, the two of them alone, and with what started as an innocent kiss good night between the two that lead to touching, feeling and nakedness. Two young soft female bodies, writhing on the bed as the full moon peered through the window, the soft moans of passion, and the promises of forever between the two in the heat of the moment.

  And when morning came, they were different, Chelsea, elated at the events of the evening before, the spark and fire that had flared. But Taylor, quiet, somber, guilt-ridden. It was those feelings that took over and drove them apart.

  Taylor avoided Chelsea the best she could, working with Teckla, while Chelsea tried to orchestra another liaison, a night of passion. Teckla saw and understood what was going on, and did what she could to help shield Taylor.

  In the end, Chelsea realized what was happening, and the why. It started her on a path she could not escape this time, and as the days and weeks passed she sank deeper and deeper into herself and a depression.

  When the big attack came, and it was all hands for survival. She saw her out, she saw one who would stay with her to the end and melted into his arms, he loved her to death.

  I am not sure any of the campers expected what happened. Taylor suffered a lot as a result of the guilt that she felt for not helping her friend, but she realized also that there was nothing that could have been done for her. She had to just keep moving forward, and surviving.

  The Pittsburgh

  I had taken a run down to the Mohegan Sun Casino to drop
some coins into the slots at the high stakes section. I don’t want you to think that I am a high end gamer, I usually only play about $400.00 through the machine. If my trilogy had sold well it might be a different situation but my monthly royalty check is only good for a $5.00 foot long at Subway. But I do have this particular Double Triple Stars machine that has been good to me over the last year or so. Hopefully today will be a good day.

  Mohegan is located about 10 miles north of the Navy Submarine Base in Groton. It is home of not only the base, which I visited in my book but also General Dynamics, the ship building facility that has constructed many of our boats. And because of the proximity of the casino to the base, when boats come in for refit, the crews often use the casino as a place to visit and relax.

  So while I was sitting at my favorite machine, dropping my $5 coins into it, a Navy Guy sat down at the machine next to me. He was an officer, but I really don’t know the meaning of all the gold braid and bands on the arms. But he did have a number of them so I know he was not some ensign or LT JG.

  “Any luck today?” he asked.

  I always kind of get funny about having people sit down next to me at a machine, I feel like they are trying to drain my luck. Yeah, I know it is a gambler thing, all imagined, all just superstition, but we are creatures of habit no matter how bizarre the habit.

  “No, so far not good, a few small hits but that is about all.” I replied, and actually, this guy did not seem so bad to talk to. I have had people next to me slamming the machine and doing weird rituals like sweeping their hand across the glass as the reels spin. No, this guy just dropped in his coin, pulled the lever and waited.

  I had settled into my routine drop the coins, pull the lever, pivot the seat and wait for the reels to stop. If I hit, I counted what I won and kept track. When I reached the number of coins still in the machine and it matched what I had won, I stop.

  “I see a lot of you navy guys in here this weekend; I am guessing a ship or two has come in.” I said.

  “Boats, we call them boats, and yes, there are two of us in port right now,” he replied.

  “ah, boats”

  “Yes, the Ohio is in and us, the Pittsburgh” he offered.

  “Really, my Grandfather was on the Pittsburgh, back in the 1920s, but it was cruiser back then. He was part of the marine guard detail.”

  “Yeah, the P has had quite a history, from back then to now, he told me.

  I had not thought about it but this officer had a southern accent. Why is it that so many military types have southern accents?

  “I wonder how that history will end, with the boat, the Pittsburgh” I said out loud, actually more a thought out loud because in my books the Pittsburgh was part of it and we never really knew what happened to it.

  “Well, it is funny that you should ask. I have my thoughts on that,” he said with a chuckle.

  I expected that he would say that it was a peaceful decommissioning at the end of a 20 or 30 year stint.

  “Yea, after the Carrington Effect it all went downhill.”

  “Wait, what? Carrington? I…”

  “Well, you created the scenario, you set us it up,” said the officer. As he turned toward me on his stool. I saw his name tag, ‘KATZUNG’. My jaw dropped.

  He went on to tell me that after they had dropped Tom and Asuna off at their base they had returned to sea. In the course of it they initially had a pretty calm and quiet time of it. They made an occasional contact with some ships out on the high seas. Some were immediately sunk because they were overrun with undead, others were helped, in some cases towed to port. They also did their best to distribute the cure for the illness that plagued humanity.

  “We did what we were supposed to, thought it was right but that sterility thing was kind of a kick in the teeth,” he said, there was a touch of bitterness in his voice. “But hey, They, Tom and his people didn’t know, can’t blame them.”

  He told me about the power struggle between Fort Knox and Cheyenne Mountain and how they had been stuck in the middle of it. Technically they were under the control or command of DeSoto at Fort Knox but when they found out about the shit he was trying to pull with the biological weapons stored at the Archive they went over to the command at Cheyenne. They tried as hard as they could to stay neutral, and in the end did not use any of their weapons against Knox when the shit hit the fan.

  “We pretty much minded our own business, worked the shipping lanes, and did what we could to help those who needed us.” He had a sort of proud grin on his face.

  “Hi Cap,” a new voice piped in, and I turned to see another officer, with a southern accent standing behind me.

  “Commander, I see you made it.” Katzung smiled at his friend.

  “Yeah, I wouldn’t miss it. You think he will like the end result?” replied the new joiner.

  Miss it? I thought, what does he mean?

  “I was just getting to that part, Tom, this is Commander Gaines, my XO on the Pittsburgh”

  “Hi, glad to meet you,” I mumbled.

  “Well, in a way we already know each other, but it is a pleasure for me to meet you in person,” smiled Gaines.

  As I think back on it now, we never shook hands or even had any physical contact, that seemed odd, Anyway……

  “So there we were out doing submarine stuff and saving those we could when the Carrington Event took place. I have to wonder if we had been on the surface if it would have made a difference, we would have lost everything anyway and just ended up floating around, no NAV systems, no computer ability, no chance to do anything but just float on the ocean currents until we ran out of water, and food,” explained Katzung.

  Gaines jumped in, “But it didn’t go that way, and in the end, it was probably better. When the EM burst occurred we were underwater, probably about 300 feet and everything shut down. No way to move, no way to escape, even our escape gear we had was of no use.”

  “The chief engineer tried to rig manual overrides, and get us closer to the surface but it didn’t work. In the end, the biggest concern was the reactor. It was still running, we couldn’t shut it down,” said Katzung.

  “So you still had engine power,” I said.

  “Well, see no, that was the problem, the computer systems all down and the reactors cooking away with no cooling system there was nowhere for the energy they were creating to go. I mean the chief did his best, we tried everything we could think of but we were faced with a core that was getting hotter and hotter, and the coolant was building up pressure. It was just a matter of time before things started to fail.” Gaines told me.

  “It was decided that we would just wait it out the best we could, but we knew what the end result was going to be, it was just the when would it happen we didn’t know.

  The first collapse was a steam cooling line in the engine room. When it burst, there were, well, the chief and some of his guys were trying to seal some smaller leaks. I guess it was quick for them, but for that first few seconds, super-heated steam,” Katzung’s voice was soft, there was a sadness.

  Gaines picked up the story, “The upside, if there could be one was that broken line released the pressure, it bought some time, but in the end, we were going to get colder and colder in the boat, and the oxygen would run out. We were dead men, we knew it, and what do you do.”

  I sat, stunned, I had not thought this part of the story through, was I bad for subjecting these characters to this? I had not noticed it before but now there was a group of people, sailors, standing in the area. Clearly they were dead, some with a peaceful look as they slipped away from their own hand or from asphyxiation while others showed burns, or bloated from drowning.

  I turned back to Katzung, I started to say I was sorry but he stopped me. “No, you’re good man, you made us, you gave us life, a mission and in a way, immorality, and we are here to thank you, all of us.”

  I looked around, and they were nodding in agreement and mumbling thanks.

  Gaines piped in “In
the end we knew the core was going to melt through the containment and the outer hull, when it did or was eminent there would be an alarm.”

  I sat, thinking about that, sitting, waiting for your end, and then the alarm, the ding, ding, ding….

  “Congratulations sir that is a nice hit. Triple, Triple, Double, that is good for $25,000. Do you want me to take out taxes?” The slot attendant was standing there having put the Jackpot winner ‘feather’ into the coin slot.

  “Huh, ah, yeah,” I looked around, I was alone, no sailors, no Gaines or Katzung, just me and the slot attendant.

  I sat waiting the attendant to return, I thought about what I had just….. dreamt? It would be a quiet ride home, even with the full pocket.

  Linc and Teckla

  Years ago I used to listen to Andy Rooney on the radio. He would generally start his bit with a comment about “Did you ever think about…….. Well I did” and roll into his topic of the day. I have found that as things have progressed after writing the trilogy I found myself having moments, sometimes when I was driving or at the Notch taking a walk, I would have thoughts about the story and find myself saying exactly that. So did you ever think about what happened to Linc and Teckla? Well, I did and I have a few comments and thoughts that I would like to share with you.

  Both of those characters had lost the loves of their lives to tragic events. Lincoln, or Linc had married his high school sweet heart and they had spent years together, had their children and had escaped the zombie holocaust to help build a little niche for themselves with his brother and his family. Then when they believed things were going well he lost his wife and kids to the group under the control of Nate and the Otis runaways. It was not an easy loss; she was raped and killed in front of him. He had been left for dead.

  Teckla, well she had been with Frank for years, they were peas and carrots, meshed well together and had this connection that just seemed to work well. I will not say that they completed each other, but they did complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses. He was kind of impulsive, she thought things through, he was good with machines, she was good with home stuff, she was a leader, and he was a follower.